Episode 312. This Is the Purpose of the Martial Arts Competition.

The Blade King's words—that there were no gaps—were a comfort to me.

I hadn't shown it in front of the Four Great Evils, but they were more precious than any praise.

It meant that the Blade King had felt a similar frustration, helplessness, and solidity from my blade as I had felt from his…….

People can be so petty.

I even found myself thinking that had I fought more masters and experienced both victory and defeat in my previous life, I might have shone brighter here today.

This must be exactly what the Alliance Leader meant by a meaningful defeat.

Thinking about it, Im Sobaek seemed to hope that the orthodox experts would each take something away from the martial arts competition.

A thought befitting an Alliance Leader.

Perhaps it was a way of taking those who simply sought to build fame by defeating him, the Alliance Leader, and giving it a different meaning.

Come to think of it, even an Alliance Leader like him had often lost to Emperors and Kings in his youth; was the shopkeeper of Ilyanghyeon really such an amazing bastard that I had been so intimidated?

I asked the Four Great Evils, who were waiting silently beside the dueling platform.

“So it's a draw for now?”

The Ghost Demon chuckled.

“Yeah. Let's go in.”

I walked slowly with the Four Great Evils, looking around the Martial Alliance.

Today, the unusually talkative one was the Ghost Demon.

“I watched the duel from beginning to end and was rather moved. After all, the Blade King is a man who stands at the peak for those who wield the blade.”

The Lust Demon asked.

“No. At the pinnacle is the senior Blade Emperor, isn't there?”

“King and Emperor are titles with no inherent hierarchy. If a senior takes the title Emperor first, the junior is forced to take the title King, and if a senior bears the title King, the junior may use Emperor. Only those clearly a cut above such Emperors and Kings earn epithets like Sword Saint, Sword God, or Martial God. You only know once you've crossed blades.”

The Sword Demon, who had been listening, spoke.

“I'm thinking of having a match once too. Though I don't know who I'll face. Since it's said we'll be competing with the One-Eyed Sword, I don't have much lingering attachment to victory or defeat.”

The Sword Demon was a man of clear disposition; if it wasn't a fight to the death, he placed no great meaning on winning or losing.

When the Sword Demon declared his participation in a calm tone, the Lust Demon chimed in too.

“Master, I'd like to have a match too. Would that be alright?”

The Sword Demon nodded.

“Since the Emperors and Kings are already gathered, it would be best to have a round each.”

“Yes.”

I looked at the Lust Demon.

“With who?”

The Lust Demon answered.

“Well, I don't think I'll lose to just anyone, so it doesn't matter who I face.”

What kind of confidence was this?

I asked the Lust Demon again.

“Are you saying you don't even think you'll lose to the Emperors and Kings?”

The Lust Demon nodded.

“Why would I lose? Honestly, aside from Master, I've never properly lost a fight yet.”

To think I was only now hearing such surprising news.

It didn't seem like the right time to bring up the shit incident, so I held my tongue. Regardless of a duel's outcome, it seemed the Lust Demon only truly lost when he himself thought he had lost.

The phrasing was strange, but that was how it was.

So even running away soiled wasn't branded as a defeat in the Lust Demon's mind, and getting beaten down by me in front of the Maehwaru seemed to be considered just a casual fight. Come to think of it, that had been a fight without using internal energy, by the Sword Demon's suggestion.

At this point, I made a resolution internally.

‘He's a fascinating guy.’

If an opportunity for the Four Great Evils to grow arose, I intended to hold on to it.

I muttered as if to myself.

“Anyway, the fourth is probably the strongest among our peers.”

The Lust Demon looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Huh? What? Why so sudden?”

“I'm saying you're the strongest.”

“That's true. But why exclude yourself?”

I shook my head with a serious expression.

“How could I butt into a kids' fight? I have to be excluded.”

The Lust Demon nodded.

“Ah, I see. These days, the faction leader is calmly losing his mind. His bullshit is getting more and more serious too. I forgot.”

I arrived at the entrance of the Wolhagwan and replied to the Lust Demon's words.

“Anyway, among the younger generation or our peers, Meng Lang, you are the strongest.”

People are inherently weak to praise they don't even mean.

The Lust Demon nodded.

“That's a valid point.”

“I believe that even if the successors of the great families or the sons of the Emperors and Kings came at you, they wouldn't be able to handle Meng Lang of Baek Eungji.”

“Wise words.”

“Meng Lang is the strongest.”

The Lust Demon answered in a dumbfounded tone.

“Yeah, I got it. Why are you suddenly losing it? This feels a bit weird.”

I encouraged the Lust Demon with praise like a storm blowing in. While the Ghost Demon suddenly suppressed a laugh, just as I expected, the window of the Wolhagwan quietly opened, and Yi Gun-ak, the Fist King of my previous life, appeared.

Yi Gun-ak asked, looking us over.

“Who among the younger generation is the strongest?”

I had actually known all along that there was a guy who was unusually obsessed and triggered by the rather childish word “strongest,” and that very person was currently looking at us.

I introduced the Lust Demon.

“......It's him.”

The Lust Demon had been out for a walk and hadn't witnessed the Fist King's appearance. When some bastard at the window started speaking rudely, naturally, no fine words could come from the Lust Demon's mouth.

“Who are you? You look like you do nothing but stuff your face. Get your face out of here and go eat.”

Yi Gun-ak laughed.

“I've already eaten.”

“Good job, you piglet. Look at the fat on your cheeks.”

The Lust Demon smirked and nodded.

“Ah, I got it. I've fallen for the Hao Sect Leader's schemes again. Whether I fall for it or not, the fact that I'm the strongest doesn't change. Come on down, chubby bastard. I'll teach you a lesson.”

Yi Gun-ak disappeared from the window, and his voice was heard.

“Master, I'll be back.”

Yi Gun-ak's master answered in a bright tone.

“Beat him just enough that he won't die. 'Chubby,' how absurd.”

“I was thinking the same.”

The Lust Demon spoke to the Sword Demon.

“Master, please rest. Your disciple will go and educate the juniors.”

“Sure. You're at the age to fight.”

The Sword Demon seemed to take it for granted that the Lust Demon would win, and entered the Wolhagwan without another word.

I caught hold of the Ghost Demon as he tried to go in as well.

“Where are you going? You should watch.”

The Ghost Demon replied.

“Why?”

“You’ll know when you see.”

I pointed ahead with my chin. I Gunak was walking out, a man who exuded an immense sense of pressure just by appearing.

Only then did we get to enjoy the Lust Demon’s thoroughly startled expression.

The moment the Lust Demon saw the enormous giant, he laughed with a strange look on his face.

“Wow, he’s a little big. But you don’t fight with size.”

As I Gunak drew closer, the Lust Demon looked up at him. In truth, I Gunak was not merely a large man. His clothes hid it, but his entire body was no different from a weapon.

I Gunak looked down at the Lust Demon.

“You look even more scrawny up close. Let’s go to the sparring stage.”

The Lust Demon laughed.

“Looks like you ate well since you were little. You do look sturdy. Let’s go.”

In truth, I was the only one who knew how this fight would unfold. Though even I did not know who would win.

In any case, I knew very well that the Fist King and the Left Envoy from my previous life would be tremendously flustered by each other. Both of them were clearly looking down on the other.

But once they fought directly, they would probably be shocked enough to faint.

Because neither was an easy opponent.

We headed to the sparring stage.

* * *

It would be accurate to call it ice arts versus body techniques.

In truth, I had learned a measure of this Fist King’s body techniques, and had used them in Maehwaru when beating up the Lust Demon without internal energy.

So the Lust Demon was fairly lucky too.

As I watched with my arms crossed, the Lust Demon and I Gunak clashed without much else being said. It had grown somewhat dark, and when the sounds of fighting rang out from the sparring stage, the alliance members approached without a word and lit fires as they moved around its perimeter. As if they had been given word in advance, the members who lit the fires also took places nearby and quietly watched the spar.

The Ghost Demon let out an exclamation.

“Huh?”

The Lust Demon blocked I Gunak’s fist, flew in a straight line across the sparring stage, twisted his body in midair, then landed lightly.

The Lust Demon already wore an expression that could not even manage a joke.

The Ghost Demon asked me with a bewildered look.

“He’s incredibly strong, isn’t he? He isn’t on the level of Baek Ri-hyeok, whom we fought earlier.”

Obviously.

If nothing special happened, he was the man who would formally inherit the title of Fist King within a few years, so of course he had to be strong.

He might be a disciple, but with a bit of exaggeration, he was a master whose skill would not seem out of place even if his fame stood alongside the Emperors. So even if his internal energy lagged somewhat behind the current Fist King’s, his fighting skill and level were likely already comparable to the Fist King of this generation.

I Gunak said,

“Are you conserving your internal energy while facing me? You must be out of your mind.”

Only after they had exchanged one bout did the Lust Demon become curious about I Gunak’s identity.

“Who are you?”

“I Gunak.”

The Lust Demon asked me,

“Who’s I Gunak? Never heard of him.”

“The Fist King’s disciple.”

The Lust Demon tilted his head.

“Fist King? There was a nickname like that? Is he some alley boss? Hahahaha.”

I clutched my stomach and laughed together with the Lust Demon.

I Gunak had already charged in and was in the middle of smashing at the Lust Demon’s head. The Lust Demon dodged by a hair, and a chase broke out atop the sparring stage.

I Gunak was not slow either, but the Lust Demon fled so quickly that he seemed like a man who had staked his life on lightness skill.

Mixed in was the Ice God Step I had seen last time, and also a movement art that reversed and used the force of being rebounded the moment he received a counterattack. In truth, I had expected that if the two of them fought, both sides would fight so brutishly they would knock each other unconscious, but the Lust Demon avoided the fight itself entirely.

At one point, I Gunak, who had been charging perfectly fine, staggered as though sliding across the floor, and the Lust Demon rushed in, swinging both palms in rapid succession.

I felt bad saying this about the Lust Demon, but it looked like an angry cat beating up a tiger.

In an instant, a barrage of thudding sounds burst out—puh-buh-buh-buh-buk—and I Gunak, arms crossed, blocked the Lust Demon’s palm force and palm techniques in a steadfast posture. It looked stubborn from the outside, but since he had learned a protective art anyway, that was not such a strange way to respond.

The moment I Gunak’s upper garment had become shredded to rags, I Gunak swung both arms and charged in, and the Lust Demon once again nimbly leaped far away like a crafty little pest.

The Lust Demon let out a short breath.

“Ha…… This is absurd.”

He seemed somewhat shocked the moment he confirmed that it had done no damage at all.

When I Gunak grabbed his upper garment and tore it off, the bizarre phenomenon occurred where he looked even larger than when he had been clothed.

The Lust Demon muttered,

“Wow, seriously, did you eat something wrong when you were little? You’ve got a body that can’t sleep lying on its side.”

At that moment, the Ghost Demon looked to the left of the sparring stage and lowered his head slightly.

“Alliance Leader.”

Im Sobaek and the Saber King walked over side by side, looking toward the sparring stage. Im Sobaek said to I Gunak and the Lust Demon,

“Continue. I have no intention of interfering.”

They were in the middle of fighting, but I Gunak and the Lust Demon answered respectfully.

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

“Yes.”

What conversation had the Alliance Leader and the Saber King had before coming here? The two of them glanced at me briefly, then soon turned their gazes back to the sparring stage.

All of us watched, from a spectator’s perspective, as the fight between the Fist King and the Lust Demon began again. The fight grew extremely long. The Fist King struggled to catch the Lust Demon, and the Lust Demon moved broadly, as though he were a person who would absolutely never be caught. Because of that, it looked as if the match would somehow end the moment he was caught.

When I fought the Fist King in my previous life, it had been a fight where we drove fists into each other’s bodies and beat one another until death, but the Lust Demon definitely had a crafty side and did not fight that kind of fight. In truth, if you ended up fighting like I Gunak, you would usually get swept up in that mood and respond in the same way, but the Lust Demon was quite levelheaded.

Was this the kind of situation where one said someone had no shame?

The Lust Demon ran around the sparring stage for half an hour. It would have been natural to tire, but the two of them, as if in competition, did not even let their breathing grow rough. Our legs hurt from watching, but Im Sobaek watched the fight seriously without interfering at all.

No one said to the Lust Demon, Are you only going to run away like a coward?

Nor did anyone utter the frustrating remark to I Gunak, Try catching him already.

Before long, the Lust Demon and I Gunak were sparring with expressions more serious than before, but neither changed his method.

The Lust Demon seemed to be instinctively wary of I Gunak’s body techniques, thinking that if he were caught, something somewhere would break.

I Gunak looked like a steadfast soldier advancing while smashing apart the continuous blizzard flying at him.

It was a peculiar fight of chasing and being chased, but it was serious in its own way.

At one moment, I Gunak kicked off so hard it seemed he would break the ground and shot forward, swinging his hand. The Lust Demon, who had been stepping backward, abruptly seized I Gunak’s wrists with both hands.

A cracking sound rang out, and I Gunak’s hands instantly turned white. When the cold that had begun to spread surged up to his elbows.

I Gunak hastily sank into a crouch, then sprang up as if shaking off the Lecher, swinging both arms. It looked simple, but the movement contained a subtle principle that broke the body’s balance.

The Lecher’s body shot swiftly into the air.

Then I Gunak drew in a deep breath and thrust a straight punch toward the sky. For a moment, ripples seemed to undulate through the empty air, and then a massive fist-shaped fist qi (拳氣) surged toward the Lecher in midair.

Seeing the man who had been chasing the Lecher all this time suddenly unleash such a ferocious consummate technique left even me feeling strange.

‘How is he supposed to block that?’

He was in midair, so there was nowhere to flee, and since it was an enormous mass of qi, there was no easy way to disperse it. It was an attack that practically forced a contest of internal energy, so the Lecher ought to respond with a consummate technique as well.

The Lecher simply infused ice arts into both palms and blocked it.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Because the sky was rather dark, I focused on the sound. Just as I thought I heard a tak— from outside the sparring platform, the Lecher reappeared on the stage with an unruffled expression.

When the Lecher appeared looking perfectly fine, I Gunak laughed.

“You’re sturdier than you look.”

The Lecher nodded.

“You’re a sly bastard, aren’t you? You fought like an idiot the whole time.”

Perhaps they were each thinking of a way to win; for a long while, the two faced off without saying a word.

It was as if they both understood that clashing head-on right away would be pointless.

Suddenly, I realized something and looked at Im Sobaek.

Just then, Im Sobaek slowly folded his arms and gazed at the two men in confrontation with a faint smile. It was the expression of someone watching juniors he cherished with interest. Strangely enough, I could clearly understand why the Alliance Leader was smiling like that.

The Lecher, who in his previous life had been the Left Envoy of Radiance, and I Gunak, who in his previous life had been the Fist King.

It was because the two of them, standing before one another, were pondering how to surpass their own limits.

And that was precisely the purpose of a spar.